TAoA:M Online in 2006

[Rodney]

As I'm putting certificates together for those that completed The Art of Animation:Master in 2005 I'm reminded of a few of the obstacles that animators have run up against while working through the manual here in the New Users Forum. I can see a few things to help streamline the process of administration/certification on my end too.

 

Everyone's ideas are solicited in an effort to keep TAoA:M fun and educational.

If you've completed the exercises online in the forum I'd especially like to hear from you.

 

 

Some of the things I'm hoping to implement this year include:

Collect all the exercises into one user friendly interface on a webpage to launch off from.

Publish information on common pitfalls/troubleshooting/tips (example: webspace storage, codecs, file compression)

Standardize naming conventions for exercise images/animations submitted . (example: Ex1 MyName OtherInformation.jpg)

Standardize/recommend file formats for each exercise. (Generally JPG, MOV and AVI are preferred)

Integrate Exercises 11.5 and 20 fully into the online course.

Provide supplemental links supporting lessons learned with each exercise.

 

What say you all. How can we make completing TAoA:M online even better?

 

Thanks!

Rodney

[Robert-Jank]

Well one time when i was doing the doors stuck i couldnt make shaggy walk to the door with the action....and then stop and put his hand on the door....i tried the force keyframe many times but still no help. i figured out that all i had to do was at the end of his walk cycle....i had to move his hand a little tiny bit in bones mode and that would atomaticly make a keyframe for me....it was really helpful to me....i hope we can use this info Rodney.

[Robert-Jank]

Another good tip i can give is when you do the tutorials....try and add some originality to it....it will help you out alot! Adding originality shows that you can not only do the tutorial but make it more interesing and better!

[MMZ_TimeLord]

I think that we could recommend specific codecs (standard ones) that allow for good compression. Resolution recommendations for each project are probably a good idea too.

 

Based on machine specifications of course too.

 

i.e.- I rendered most of my stills in my choreography window and just did a screen capture (Alt+PrtScreen on PC) and pasted into Paint Shop Pro and saved with a high quality setting (Any paint program that can save JPG is fine, GIMP is a freeware Photoshop clone for example).

 

For the animated tutorials I generally went with 320x240 or 640x480 and used QuickTime with Sorensen 3 compression on low. (Had to resample the sound bite for 'Can you say that' so the quicktime would come in at under 1MB. I don't like AVI files as much, so someone else would have to make a recomendation on the codec for that one.

 

If you are running on a slower CPU, say around 1Ghz or slower or you don't have time to wait for renders, then 320x240 stills (size your choreography window down) and 160x120 movie files would be acceptable too. Should be about a quarter of the render time.

 

 

As to the 'simple' things such as Robert-Jank was mentioning on getting the keyframe. A lot of these little tips are in the video turtorials. Maybe they need to be compiled into a 'quick-tip' list along with the latest and greatest keyboard shortcut list (I know I can never find one when I need it!)

[Robert-Jank]

Great info there MMZ_TimeLord..

[Rodney]

Thanks guys... keep the ideas flowing. I'm taking notes.

[Robert-Jank]

OK one problem i noticed alot of People had...was in the first tutorial with KeeKat....his right foot always had a problem, and was always sideways.....this was simple enough to fix, just click on his "Right Foot" target and use the "Rotate Manipulator" to rotate his foot back into the right positon.

[MMZ_TimeLord]

That was a problem with the model on a specific A:M CD (I forget which one)... there is a a corrected model in Hash's site. Maybe that should be edited into the first post of the thread so that folks will be aware of it immediately.

 

Other bugs/model discrepencies like this should also be edited into the first post so that beginning students don't have to struggle, thinking it's something they did wrong.

[Rodney]

That was a problem with the model on a specific A:M CD (I forget which one)... there is a a corrected model in Hash's site. Maybe that should be edited into the first post of the thread so that folks will be aware of it immediately.

 

Other bugs/model discrepencies like this should also be edited into the first post so that beginning students don't have to struggle, thinking it's something they did wrong.

 

If you are talking about the Knight and his knee problem mission accomplished!

I did overlook the Can Can and 'Eat My Dust' exercises but added the comment to the very first post and "It's a Pitch".

 

Thanks! Any other troubleshooting tips/erratas please advise and I'll get them included.

 

Rodney

[Robert-Jank]

Well the knight had a problem too but we where talking about keekat and his "right foot" problem

[Rodney]

Yeah. You wrote that up there. ^^

 

There is also a problem with Shaggy's left hand on the 2004 CD.

I think that has been fixed on both the 2005 and 2006 CDs.

Hash Inc did post a 'Shaggy - Fixed hand Clench' on the Free Models site. The free models site has changed but the link should still be in the exercise area.

 

The roll handle problem with Keekat is a problem but one that can be fixed pretty easily.

We'll add the info to the exercise but we won't beat everyone over the head with it as Roll handles aren't really important to the exercise. Looking at the images posted in the forum the turn of the foot almost looks intentional. Keekat just has to be different...

 

Thanks!

[Robert-Jank]

ha! Yeah....Keekat...probably one of my favourite premade charecters...

[Robert-Jank]

hmmmmm im not sure i think ill take a look at my TAoA:M and see what mistakes i made.